MONTGOMERY, Texas – The Montgomery County man who is the region's first human case of West Nile says that he will recover.

Chuck Moore was released from the hospital Tuesday.

"I thought I was gonna die. I sure did," he said.

Moore has seen plenty in his 72 years, but he had never been sick like this, mostly the headache.

"It will hit you in places like…you just feel like you…puts a hole in your head or something," he said.

He was hospitalized twice and after dozens of tests, looking for what could be the cause of headaches, weakness and high fever, he finally got an answer from a spinal tap.

He was diagnosed with West Nile virus.

"I hated to hear that is what it was but I was glad to at least know," said Sue Moore, Chuck's wife. "(I was) so afraid or fearful that he wasn't going to make it."

“(I was) so afraid or fearful that he wasn't going to make it.”

Chuck Moore's wife

It was touch and go for several days, but after nearly a two-week fight, he was released from CHI St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital.

It should not be a shock to anyone that the first human case of West Nile virus this year is here in Montgomery County. The first positive mosquito tests were here, too. That was back in June.

Precinct 3 in Montgomery County has been spraying since that first positive test, but now the entire precinct is essentially positive for the West Nile mosquitoes. That is a lot of ground to cover for spraying crews.

That is why health professionals say taking personal protective measures like wearing mosquito repellant with DEET is so important.

That is something Chuck did not do, until now.

"It don't do it. It is always gonna be someone else…never me. This has been an eye-opening experience for me," Moore said.